4 ms·

Ask HN: How do you network as a developer?

• smoldesu 4y ago
  > What else should I try? Lowering your standards.
  • vba616 4y ago
    That's not terribly helpful if someone is trying to decide whether to seek a job that leaves them significantly underemployed. Like, should you stock shelves at Target, or not? If you do, what do you tell people when you apply for a software job? I think it is true that any employment is better than none when you've been unemployed for a while, but at the same time, it's hard to fake commitment to a job that doesn't use your skills, and hard to sell it to the next person. It's not "nice" even if you can fake it, even though I wouldn't ever judge someone who does what they have to. My solution is temp agencies and/or volunteering depending on what your finances permit. That way you get some people that like you and will recommend you, and I think it's important not to overestimate how much time it takes - just a few months and you can get fantastic references without a pre-existing network. Non-profits love volunteers that act like it's a real job, rather than flaky people and students. Also, hospitals are used to putting volunteers to work, and if you ask, there is probably plenty to do that is administrative and not related to patients, which can be massaged into a resume for any office job. In my experience they treat volunteers almost like real job applicants, which can seem ungrateful, but also can almost be like training wheels to get a person used to employment again. You might not think you can afford to spend time doing these things and not making a decent income, but that depends on whether just spamming hundreds of resumes will get you a good position in less time, and what kind of certainty you have. People say "it's a numbers game" but for me, the variance and "unknown unknowns" are too big - if I'm sending out tons of resumes and not getting responses, I have no idea if the probability is very small or zero, because of some factor I'm missing. Any time I fail three times in a row, I infer some deep analysis and change of course is needed. I'd rather identify a handful of "bricks" that are needed and assemble them one by one. The barrier to get over is convincing people who don't know you to trust you in a long term relationship, and the solution is building that trust in steps. Realizing you need some patience, but not that much patience. The underlying concern when hiring anybody who isn't currently employed is - is this person employable at all. So don't get distracted from that being a pre-requisite before any other qualifications are in play.
    • legerdemain 4y ago
      I'm not hurting for a job, I'm specifically trying to rebuild my personal social network by meeting people who are either interested in collaborating on a project or who enjoy talking in-depth about software development.
      • vba616 4y ago
        If you don't have immediate financial pressures, then I would definitely suggest focusing on volunteering. Nothing can really substitute for working on something you care about, and being around people who share that.
• gsatic 4y ago
  Make friends with some one who does network full time. People who are not engineers basically.
  • legerdemain 4y ago
    Just yesterday I met a former coworker who is all-in on crypto and promised to connect me to all the hottest Rust jobs and most rockstar founders in SF. (Not joking.)
• bckr 4y ago
  Define your goals in networking. Get more specific with whom you want to meet and why. Find out where those people are spending time online and IRL. Determine how closely you are connected to them and if anyone you know can make an introduction. Go to conferences and do your best to have quality conversations with several people. Create content for the kind of people you want to meet.
  • legerdemain 4y ago
    Conferences cost thousands of dollars to attend. I am interested in meeting (IRL) people who are either interested in collaborating on a software project or who enjoy talking in-depth about software development. The whole point of this post is to get suggestions for places where I can find them.
• nivertech 4y ago
  Make a google spreadheet[1] with the list of your old industry contacts. Research. Prioritize. Start calling/messaging them. Say you want to catch up. Either have a catch up talk on the phone, and if they like it set up a coffee meeting (coffee on you;). Before COVID I networked a lot. This is how I re-building my network. -- 1. it can be any CRM tool really, but better to keep it simple
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• beckingz 4y ago
  In person meetups are good. Some of the online 'code and coffee' events also are good chances to do some networking.